Good food, good meat, good gravy, let's eat!!

Curtis and I had to go to Indiana for a week for my grandpa's funeral (see last post) and since then we have been kind of poor.  Not really poor, but kind of poor (since we had to put a lot of money into plane tickets).  And when you are poor you come up with some crazy awesome ideas for food and meals.  Curtis is my chef, that is for sure.  He always has good ideas about what we should eat and what we should try.  I am not gonna lie it is pretty awesome to have such a good cook around for the meal preparations.  Here is a little sample of what we've had this week!

First we started out with a 8x11 pan, putting a layer of bread crumbs in the bottom (I had to make the bread crumbs because they didn't have any at the store, thank goodness for ovens!)  Also a coating of egg and apple soda (or juice) was put over the top of these, just to make sure they got crispy!

Next we cut up some purple onion to put into the mix.

Next some Gala apple was sliced as well, to put in with the onions and bread crumbs. 

Curtis browned a pork chop on the stove with some brown sugar and apple sauce.  Then we put the pork  chop on top of the bread crumbs, the onions and apples were put on top of that, and all of it was baked in the oven for about 45 minutes. 

Curtis was happy with his creation of "caramelized apples and onions over a bed of bread crumbs with browned porkchops with a side of apple sauce".

Here is what happens when it is too cold to go outside and actually cook something.  Curtis and Shae get creative in ways to make the wintertime feel more....well, more like summer.  We decided last night to make "hobo" or tinfoil dinners. 

We started out with a few potatoes and added some corn (from some of the frozen corn we had in the freezer).  We had to slice it off the cob, which was awesome!

Next we added a little celery and mushrooms to the mix, just to make it interesting!

Curtis decided a red bell pepper would taste good too so it was thrown into the mix as well.

Here is a very crazed looking Curtis.  He can't wait for his food to get done!

Next a little salt and pepper, plus a lime squeezed over the whole thing, and a spoonful (or two) of cream of mushroom soup.

And an ice cube and voila! You have a tinfoil dinner that the neighbors will be jealous about!

Adding the finishing touches!

So very happy with our food choice!  (Everything we put into the hobo dinners we already had here at the house! Here's to thinking ahead, and planning a little for those times when you will be poor!)

Now they are in the oven!

Here is the completed meal.  I like mustard on nearly everything, and here you can see I put a little on my hamburger!

Curtis was happy to finally be eating.  :D The only other thing we ate yesterday was cereal!  It was about time for a real meal!

Curtis on the other hand likes ketchup on most things, so that is what he put on his.  I will tell you, this is probably one of my most favorite meals we've had since we got married.  It for sure made me feel like it was a little closer to being summer.  Oh and we treated ourselves afterwards by going to the store and buying ice cream!  :D

Busy February

We have had an extremely busy February so far.  We have had lots of ups, and a few downs.  But through it all Curtis and I still have each other to hold on to, and for that I am most grateful!!

We had the chance to go over to Midway, UT to see the "ice castles."  Here is Curtis with his amazing smile.  It was freezing!  Here is the website for the castles (http://www.brentsicecastle.blogspot.com/).  Anyone living in the Valley should take the chance to go over, but remember to wear something warm!

Curtis "impaling" himself with the icicle . 

Me "impaling" myself on the same icicle.  Notice it hits me at my chest and not down by my legs!

Curtis in front of one of the biggest castles.

Me freezing my butt off!

And dancing like a fool!

We were the only people at the ice castles (come to find out they actually light up at night, when most people go.  But I am not gonna lie I was grateful we went during the light because it was so cold!) so I had to put my camera up on one of the ice castles to snap this picture.  That is why it is a little crooked. :D

We had to make an emergency trip to Illinois and Indiana because my Grandpa Bill (my Dad's, Dad) was very sick and in the hospital/nursing home.  He sadly passed away on the morning of Wednesday the 9th.  I love my Grandpa and he will be missed!

He has a military funeral because he was a member of the Army during the Korean war.

All of the Pall-bearers were members of my family.  Cousins, Uncles, and my own Father.

The American Legion were all there.

This is the covering of his vault.

And this is his beautiful casket that he picked out himself. 

This is what my Grandparent's headstone says.  It reads, "A lifetime of love, began on February 12th, 1952 and will continue when we meet again one day."  It just so happens that my Grandpa's funeral was on February 12th.  He was layed next to his sweetheart on the same day that they were married, some 59 years later.  What a cool blessing!

Here is my sweet little grandpa.  He was so sick.  But he still had the strength to muster up a smile (though I was too slow to get it on camera).

My Mother is such a loving care-giver. (And blogger won't let me turn the picture...) :(

My sweet Sister with our Grandpa. 

This is the scene that I found when I came home on Monday (you know Valentines Day!)

And this was what was at the end of one of the trails of rose petals!

Curtis has also decorated the bedroom.  I seriously have the BEST husband ever.  :D

Our Home

Here are a few photos of our cute house.  We live in a basement apartment of an older lady in Orem Ut.  She is really sweet (though somtimes kind of annoying) and provided a lot of the furniture in our apartment.  We love living here and making it into our own (as much as we can).  I can't wait until we can get in our own place so that we can paint and such, but this works for now!  This is the room that you walk into from our outside door.  Don't ask me why it is a bed room....it's our "spare" for some reason the front door doesn't open up into the living room.

This is our living room.  It is huge and feels really homey.  We love to spend time in here, usually watching TV or reading a book.  I am thankful that we have the chance to live in such a nice place and in such a great neighborhood.

This is our TV that we are pretty proud of.  It was one of the first purchases that we made when I moved into the apartment in September.  It is really nice and we love it.  You'll have to excuse the trout box on the floor.  It is actually an apple box...for Christmas decorations.  I just haven't had the chance to go to the store and buy an actual box to put stuff away in yet.  

One of the first things that I fell in love with about Curtis is the fact that he LOVES to read.  He reads all the time and I love it.  We go to the library frequently and rent books, but we also own a lot of books as you can see here.  One semester when I was single I spent more money on used books than I did on food! :D 

This is our cute bath room!  My Mom and Dad really helped us a lot when we first got into our apartment.  They hung all of our pictures and bought us a ton of "home" things that you might need when moving in.  I love our bathroom though.  The only thing I don't like is that our washer and dryer are in the bathroom thus making lint EVERYWHERE.  Other than that our bathroom is super cute!

This is our bedroom.  Curtis' Mom and Dad bought us the bedspread and the pillows for Christmas and it was a very nice addition to what we had.  Our window as you can see is covered up by a blanket, because it is a single pane window and I sleep on that side of the bed and freeze to death at night if that blanket isn't in place.  I know, I am a wimp.

And lastly this is our tiny kitchen.  It is barely big enough for Curtis and I both to cook something and not kill each other.  As I said earlier though we are happy to live in our cute home and in such a great place.  We love it and are thankful that we found it and that we are able to afford living in such a nice place.  

Cabbage Soup Recipe

Ok, first of all this recipe is the easiest thing in the whole world.  You'll have to allot yourself like an hour before you can eat it in order to make it.  But other than the hour it is so easy!

You'll need a BIG pot to cook this in.  I use a 16 qt pot because it makes a lot of soup.

First I start out with a can of beef broth.  I usually try to by the low sodium fat free kind, because it tastes the same but is better for you.  After I empty the can I usually fill it two or three times with water and put that in too.  After your broth and water are in the pot you can start browning your ground beef.  I salt and pepper it in order to season it, and I also add chili powder to it...a lot of chili powder. Next I cut my carrots.  This time I used an entire bag of the baby carrots, I cut them in half and throw them in.  Turn your stove on high and let it begin to cook.  Next are the potatoes...6 or 7 small potatoes.  I don't ever peel them (I like the peels) I just scrub them well and then cut them into 8ths.  Half of an onion diced into the pot.  4 or 5 stalks of celery diced as well.  2 cans of corn and 2 cans of green beans (with the water and everything). 2 yellow squashes and 2 zucchini's.   Really you can put ANY vegetable in this soup.  Anything!  My room mate once put turnips in it and it turned out great!  You can experiment and try anything.  I love vegetables so anything goes for me.  Lastly I take a small head of cabbage and I slice it into small pieces.  The whole head.  Put it into the pot with everything else.  You might need to add some more water at this point (if there isn't enough water to go over the cabbage add some).  After that add your browned hamburger, and a lot more chili powder.  (we like it hot!!) Salt and pepper to taste.  And you're done.  Basically it is a bunch of water with a TON of vegetables, chili powder, and hamburger added.

You'll have to let me know if you have the chance to try it.  Honestly Curtis even liked it!  :D

A day in SLC

Today Curtis and I had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake Temple.  Curtis had never been before and I had only been once myself.   We did an endowment session then we sat in the Celestial room for a while.  It was so nice and peaceful we didn't want to leave.  This is us in front of the reflecting pool, some very cold missionaries stopped to help us.  It was freezing!

Here we are a little closer.  The wind was blowing so bad that we had to hold on to each other tight so that I didn't blow away.  :D

We came home from the Temple and decided to make cabbage soup.  Well, I decided to make cabbage soup.  Curtis was a real trooper though and stayed in the kitchen to help me cut up all the vegetables that he doesn't like (at least he thinks he doesn't like them).  I love to make and eat cabbage soup...in fact it is one of my favorites.  Curtis on the other hand could do without the veggies.  But, surprise of surprises he LIKED it!  He at a whole bowl and told me that it was ok if I wanted to make it every once in a while.  Oh how I love that man!

Curtis downloaded a new game on his computer called Star Craft and he has been enjoying it as you can see.  I am glad that he is so happy!  He is such a sweet husband, and I love him more than anything.  He is way to good to me!!

We decided to end the night by watching DragonHeart.  Audrey came over and we made a night of it.  DragonHeart by the way is a great movie.  We loved it and would definitely recommend it.  Cabbage soup, a great movie, an awesome sister, and a sweet husband.  What more could you ask for?